O.C. women recount close call on Syria mission

April 17, 2013

Updated Aug. 21, 2013 1:17 p.m.

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Nesrin Tarablosi, 28, of Anaheim poses with Syrian children. She and her friend Puneh Ala'i from Laguna Niguel were in the region recently to provide relief to refugees of the Syrian civil war. COURTESY OF NESRIN TARABLOSI

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Puneh Ala'i, 27, of Laguna Niguel leans against boxes of tea leaves she bought with money raised in Orange County. Ala'i and others packed the tea, sugar, rice, noodles, sardines and other foods for distribution to Syrian refugee camps. COURTESY OF PUNEH ALA&#128;'I

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Syrian teenagers were excited to meet an American, Puneh Ala'i says, and posed for a picture with her. COURTESY OF PUNEH ALA'I

Nesrin Tarablosi, 28, of Anaheim poses with Syrian children. She and her friend Puneh Ala'i from Laguna Niguel were in the region recently to provide relief to refugees of the Syrian civil war. COURTESY OF NESRIN TARABLOSI

How to help

Puneh Ala'i of Laguna Niguel and Nesrin Tarablosi of Anaheim were in Turkey and Syria this month to distribute food and other aid to refugees of the Syrian civil war. Both say they plan to go back and are continuing to take donations. You can learn more about their trip and donate via PayPal on their blogs:

Tarablosi, of Anaheim, and Puneh Ala'i, of Laguna Niguel, spent several days in Syria this month, home to a brutal civil war that hasn't let up for two years. They had raised thousands of dollars in Orange County, spending some of it to help Syrian refugees at camps in Turkey before crossing into Syria to a town about a three-hour drive south of the border.

Tarablosi, 28, and Ala'i, 27, had met only about three weeks before they left, but for most of the trip, they had been side by side. Only Tarablosi speaks Arabic, and she was Ala'i's communication lifeline.

But on their third day inside Syria, Ala'i stayed in town with other aid workers and Syrian villagers to pack food baskets for surrounding refugee camps. Tarablosi went on a delivery run nearby to hand out food baskets to people in need, many of whom had taken shelter in caves.

That's when Tarablosi heard explosions in the distance, but not far away.

"It was one, two, three behind each other," she said. "I immediately knew that was where Puneh was." She rushed back to the town and heard screaming.

Ala'i had been in a large room plugging away on the food packing. She heard an explosion nearby – shockingly close, she said – but she kept packing for a moment. After all, she had heard explosions nearly nonstop since entering the country.

But then she heard screaming. Looking up, she could see smoke rising just outside her window.

"I was like, 'Oh my God,' " Ala'i said.

She looked around and saw a Syrian man who had been helping her pack. He was sitting, smoking a cigarette, and "looked terrified." Ala'i said the man knew, as she had quickly learned, that bombings or rocket attacks from forces loyal to Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad usually occurred two or three at a time. There was nothing they could do but wait.

The second explosion hit.

"Next thing I know, we're walking out," Ala'i recalled. "I looked to the left and there was just black smoke. ... I saw people who were bloody."

She said cars zoomed past and she shuddered at what she saw: "Blood on the doors, blood on the side, people screaming inside."

That was about when Tarablosi found her, Ala'i said. "She looks at me – she thought I was dead," Ala'i said.

"I was like, 'OK, thank God, she's safe. Now we need to figure out our next move,' " Tarablosi said.

Both decided it was smartest to evacuate. They had built connections with workers in the Syrian aid group Watan who were able to drive them back to Turkey. They're now back in Orange County.

Their contacts in the village say the violence has become worse, Ala'i said. Several of their hosts have fled to more-rural areas.

Despite their close call, both women say they want to go back. Ala'i said she hasn't slept much, thinking about what the Syrians in that town are enduring. She said she would like to start a nonprofit group.

She and Tarablosi met Monday with Sama Wareh, who also has been to the region on a relief trip, to start planning their next move.

"I'm really impatient right now," Ala'i said. "In a dream world, I'd have my ticket and I could go back next week."

But there are obstacles. She needs to raise more money for a return trip, and she said there are "tensions" with her Laguna Niguel family about her desire to return. Her parents are worried for her safety.

Tarablosi is more cautious about going back. "Because I have a 1-year-old and a husband here, I can't just pick up and go," she said.

But she said she has floated the idea of moving the family to Turkey to help with the aid effort.

Both women continue to raise money to benefit refugee relief.

"Now we're closer than ever," Tarablosi said. "I'm so happy we were able to start this."

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